There's some spoiler-y discussion after the teaser, so if you don't want to be spoiled, then just read the teaser!
"Ay, she's awake!" Angel-man was back and looking more handsome than ever. Lauren blushed as she took him in fully. He was tall, with a smooth handsome face and dark hair that was pulled into a low ponytail. His arms which had moved the rocks so easily were covered by a tunic-looking thing, which stretched across his broad chest. He resembled something like a male model and it kind of hurt to look at him.
Lauren desperately wished to disappear or run away, but she was stuck on the bed in her ratty, dirty shirt and her torn pant leg and her smelly leg.
"Cefin, Siors will be here soon. Don't be making too much of a fuss," the woman said as she bustled out of the room. She leaned into whisper something to him, and Lauren caught the words "hysterical" and "loony."
"Aye." He nodded coming to sit on the bed next to her. The woman left the room, although Lauren rather wished she would stay so the handsome man wouldn't have her in his sights.
"So..." Lauren mumbled like an idiot. "Thank you for... saving my life..."
"Yes," he said, tilting his head to look at her. "And why were you up in the mountains anyway? How did you get past the watcher?"
"I didn't...I mean...I don't know." Lauren shook her head.
"Do you not remember?" he asked, reaching his hand to touch her forehead.
No one should have passed me, and if Graves missed another shift, I'll kill him. We have a duty—
Lauren heard herself suck in breath again and realized Cefin was staring at her.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked.
"No, I just..." Lauren swallowed, realizing that she must be going insane. But if she knew she was going insane, did that mean she was going insane? Was it possible to watch oneself go insane?
He peered at her with his beautiful face and she had to look away. "You must still be a little faint from the fever. You were murmuring when I pulled you out of the cave."
"Yeah, what is this cave thing everyone keeps talking about?" Lauren said, finding her tongue. "And where am I?"
~*~
Gina, my editor, kept mentioning that I was using cliche terms to describe Cefin, and I confess - that was intentional. I wanted to play up this idea of the "Man Who Saves Her," because I hate that idea. Mostly because I subscribed to it for far too long and it was to my detriment.
Lauren is looking for someone to save her so she doesn't have to save herself. The problem with that is that it makes her a little blind to the red flags. Speaking from experience (ahem), when you try to stuff every poor sap you date into a box called The One, it's bad news bears.
Cefin is--literally--the only guy around, and he's halfway interested in Lauren, and so she puts him on a pedestal. She's a pop culture queen, firing off quips and quotes from TV shows and movies. So obviously a guy from a fantasy world who has no concept of those mediums is not a good fit for her. But she plows on anyway, ignoring how they seem to talk past each other most of the time.
Again, cough cough.
(Spoilers ahead)
I also was very intentional with how Lauren reacts to Cefin. She's flattered by his attentions, she's giddy that someone actually likes her. She wants to post it on Facebook that she's gonna marry him (as if that's really all she's interested in). But that's where it ends. And it's not until she realizes that she has been avoiding dealing with her own problems that she realizes how little she actually knows him, let alone loves him. And her desire to be with him is purely because she's afraid of being alone.
(End Spoilers)
There's a real danger when you love the idea of someone more than the person themselves, and I am guilty of that a lot. That's one of the reasons why I've been very cautious about discussing what I want (husband, marriage, kids) because I don't want to date a Husband, I want to be with a man that I love. I want to find someone who makes me smile and who charms me with his hopes and dreams, not because he fits the narrative of What I'm Looking For. I want to be in love with a person, not an idea.
Writing that part of Lauren was one of the most difficult to push out because it was one of my behaviors that was the most embarrassing. I hated that I turned into a maneater and that I was more happy to have an update to my relationship status on Facebook than enjoying the company of a man I was seeing.
And that's not fair to him (#Feminism) and not the kind of lasting relationship that I want.
(Spoilers ahead)
I also was very intentional with how Lauren reacts to Cefin. She's flattered by his attentions, she's giddy that someone actually likes her. She wants to post it on Facebook that she's gonna marry him (as if that's really all she's interested in). But that's where it ends. And it's not until she realizes that she has been avoiding dealing with her own problems that she realizes how little she actually knows him, let alone loves him. And her desire to be with him is purely because she's afraid of being alone.
(End Spoilers)
There's a real danger when you love the idea of someone more than the person themselves, and I am guilty of that a lot. That's one of the reasons why I've been very cautious about discussing what I want (husband, marriage, kids) because I don't want to date a Husband, I want to be with a man that I love. I want to find someone who makes me smile and who charms me with his hopes and dreams, not because he fits the narrative of What I'm Looking For. I want to be in love with a person, not an idea.
Writing that part of Lauren was one of the most difficult to push out because it was one of my behaviors that was the most embarrassing. I hated that I turned into a maneater and that I was more happy to have an update to my relationship status on Facebook than enjoying the company of a man I was seeing.
And that's not fair to him (#Feminism) and not the kind of lasting relationship that I want.
~~~
Lauren Dailey is in break-up hell.
Stuck between moving on and letting go, she puts on a brave face while crying herself to sleep at night. But when a mysterious voice promises escape from her sadness, she is suddenly transported to a new world. And in this place, the slightest touch pulls her out of her tortured emotions into the mind of another - an empath.
The villagers - sweet Aerona and her mischievous twins, wise Siors, and hunky Cefin - welcome her and the blessings her empath powers bring. But this world is not without its dangers. The Anghenfil, a fire-breathing monster, has haunted the village for decades, and has a taste for empaths. And that mysterious voice promising escape from sadness? It's sounding more like a whisper tinged with smoke and embers.
Preorder today on the below stores. Available May 15th.
No comments:
Post a Comment